The Woman Who Stole My Flower
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
5.
Next, the Team Leader lowered his voice.
“I don’t know what happened, but Kang Joo-heon’s mood has been in the absolute gutter lately. He was about to flip the table and refuse the whole thing, but the Head of PR practically got down on her knees to bring him here, so make sure you don’t get on his bad side.”
The Team Leader gave a stern warning.
“We’re already treated like Cinderella around here. Let’s not make a mistake and get kicked out of the house for good.”
To put it bluntly, corporate social responsibility was far from a money-making venture—quite the opposite, it was all about spending money. She didn’t know how it worked at other companies, but at Bellator Korea, it felt very much like an obligation they ran while biting the bullet, simply to fend off criticism that global brands only rake in profits in Korea while neglecting to give back to society.
As a result, the CSR Team was, just as the Team Leader put it, the Cinderella of the Public Relations Office, constantly walking on eggshells.
Regardless, a bolt out of the blue couldn’t have struck harder than this.
Kang Joo-heon is coming to our office?
Then she’d have to see his face! Her heart began pounding as if it were about to burst from her chest, and Yeon-seo struggled to calm it down.
Even if we meet, he won’t remember me.
Come to think of it, that made sense. There was no way a man who publicly declared his premarital celibacy to the entire nation would ever engage in a one-night stand in his right mind. That meant he had likely been heavily intoxicated as well, and if so, there was no chance he’d remember the face of a woman he had spent a drunken night with.
…But what if he does remember?
Yeon-seo shuddered as she recalled his face when she had told him it was a mosquito bite, looking strangely furious for some reason. It was obvious to anyone that he harbored no goodwill toward her, so avoiding him at all costs was the best course of action.
This won’t do. I need to make an excuse and get out of work…
With that thought in mind, she stepped out of the office to head to the restroom, only to find an unfamiliar man standing in the hallway. He looked to be in his mid-thirties.
“Ah, seriously, the reporters are acting crazy enough as it is, so why are you doing this too, CEO? I’m telling you, Jooheon really doesn’t have a woman!”
At the sound of the name slipping from the man on the phone, Yeon-seo startled and ducked behind the hallway corner.
“If an issue like that came up, I would’ve reported it to you first thing! Ah, you know Jooheon’s dating history just as well as I do, CEO. Girl group members, actresses—how many women have thrown themselves at him? Even so, he insists on finding his first love from back in the prehistoric ages, swearing he’ll grow old and die a virgin ghost if it isn’t her, so how could he possibly have a woman? Huh?”
Judging by his words, he was likely Kang Joo-heon’s manager, and the person on the other end of the line was the agency’s CEO. The man practically pleaded into the receiver.
“The thing on his neck? Come on, the punk won’t even tell you, so do you think he’d tell me? No matter how much I ask, he keeps his mouth shut and has just been fuming with rage for days. It seems like a sasaeng fan got to him. I think someone might’ve drugged Jooheon or done something to him.”
Whatever the person on the other end said, the manager jumped in alarm.
“What? Neglecting the player’s care? Don’t you know how vicious those people are? They dig through trash cans and trade a single tissue Kang Joo-heon used for a hundred thousand won, and a single strand of Kang Joo-heon’s hair for fifty thousand won—so how on earth am I supposed to block every single one of them?”
Yeon-seo’s heart sank to her stomach. Only now did she understand why Kang Joo-heon had looked so furious at the event.
He thinks I’m a sasaeng fan!
He must have thought that the purity he had treasured all the way to this age had been stolen by a sasaeng fan while he was drunk. From Kang Joo-heon’s perspective, it truly would have felt like a bolt from the blue.
The manager suddenly lowered his voice.
“Jooheon is so enraged, he’s throwing an absolute fit about tracking that woman down no matter what. I’ve personally run around and combed through over ten sets of CCTV footage and still haven’t caught her, and he wanted to report it to the police—I barely managed to talk him out of it for the sake of his public image! If the reporters found out, can you imagine the chaos?”
Yeon-seo felt as though she might faint at any second. Going to those lengths just to catch me?
“Anyway, once you meet Jooheon in person, CEO, you’ll see for yourself that he definitely hasn’t found a girlfriend. Of course, if there were even a hint of that, I’d report it to you first. Just hurry back to Korea. Yes, yes.”
Wrapping up the conversation, the man hung up and let out a deep sigh.
“Ugh, my wretched luck.”
Judging from the sheer frustration oozing through his words, he clearly had a mountain of grievances built up. Then again, reporters were hounding him, the player kept his mouth firmly shut about what had happened, and the CEO abroad was constantly grilling him over the phone—it made total sense.
“Oh my, Manager, you’re here! Why didn’t you come in?”
A moment later, an employee from the Public Relations Office stepped out and greeted the man warmly.
“Ah, yes, I had to take a quick call outside… May I look around for a moment?”
“Of course. We’ve already set up the desk and everything. Please, come in.”
From their exchange, it seemed the manager had come in advance to check on the environment where Kang Joo-heon would be working.
I must not run into him, no matter what!
Having inadvertently overheard the conversation of Kang Joo-heon’s manager, her resolve only hardened. To think he takes me for a sasaeng fan—and is grinding his teeth trying to hunt me down! If I get caught, my life is completely over. I heard Kang Joo-heon’s weekly wage nears five hundred million won, so if he files a lawsuit, how on earth am I supposed to compensate for such an expensive man’s purity?
‘The defendant shall pay the plaintiff ten billion won in damages.’
Bang, bang, bang. In her mind, she could practically hear the sound of a judge’s gavel striking.
‘Your Honor, then what about my purity? I lost mine too!’
When Yeon-seo protested in sheer injustice, the judge amended the ruling nonchalantly.
‘Then pay nine billion nine hundred ninety-nine million won.’
What, is my purity only worth a measly million won? Raging internally, Yeon-seo snapped back to her senses. This is no time for me to be having these kinds of thoughts!
Fortunately, Kang Joo-heon was coming to the office tomorrow, so there was still a chance to escape. Forgetting her initial intention to visit the restroom, Yeon-seo hurried back inside the office.
“Team Leader, I think I need to take annual leave tomorrow.”
“Huh? So suddenly? What’s going on?”
“It’s my grandmother’s memorial service, so…”
She was about to make up an excuse about having to help prepare the memorial rites, but before she could finish her sentence, someone gasped in surprise.
“Oh my, Joo-heon Kang?”
Yeon-seo turned around and froze. A man of massive stature dressed in a gray tracksuit was striding boldly into the office.
His flustered manager trailed behind him.
“Wait, Jooheon! I clearly told you it was tomorrow. If you just barge in like this, they need time to prepare too…”
Kang Joo-heon shoved his hands into his pockets and retorted gruffly.
“Let’s just get it over with quickly. Isn’t it enough to just sit at a desk and snap a few photos?”
Strictly speaking, the company—as the advertiser—ought to hold the upper hand, but with Kang Joo-heon as the counterpart, that meant nothing. A model who possessed both top-tier talent and stunning visuals like Kang Joo-heon was unrivaled across the entire football world. Even the likes of Messi or Ronaldo merely sold their own jerseys; they couldn’t sell out every single product line simply by wearing it.
As it stood, Bellator was already struggling with market share falling behind competitor brands; if they got on Kang Joo-heon’s bad side and lost him, all hell would break loose from headquarters. In short, if Kang Joo-heon said jump, they asked how high.
And so, the Public Relations Office of Bellator Korea Ltd. received an unexpected raid from their (honorary) Director, throwing the entire floor into complete pandemonium.
“CEO! Someone call the CEO and tell him to get here right away!”
“The bouquet, order the bouquet!”
“Call the video production company quickly and tell them to come over!”
“What kind of tea should we prepare? Coffee? Iced tea?”
“Why are you asking me, you should ask the Director!”
“Me?”
Kang Joo-heon looked upon the people scrambling left and right on his account with entirely unreadable eyes.
“……”
The rumor that Kang Joo-heon’s mood was in the gutter lately was proven true just by looking at his face. At the event the day before yesterday, he must have managed his expression only because it was an official public setting. A chill emanated not just from his face, but from his entire being. The atmosphere was so frigid that no one dared strike up a conversation. The employee tasked with preparing the tea was on the verge of tears, unable to muster the courage to ask what he’d like to drink.
“Kang Joo-heon, we warmly welcome you to Bellator Korea.”
Only after the Head of PR came rushing in out of breath and took charge did the chaos settle down slightly.
“Now, before we begin work, let’s exchange greetings first. These are the employees of the Public Relations Office who will be working with you today.”
At times like this, she couldn’t be more grateful that the CSR Team’s seats were tucked in the absolute farthest corner of the office. While the Head of PR introduced the employees one by one, Yeon-seo hung her head low in the corner and chanted an internal mantra.
He won’t remember. He definitely won’t remember.
As she bent her head so low she looked ready to drill into the floor, Yeon-seo’s turn finally arrived.
“And lastly, Manager Jung Yeon-seo of the CSR Team.”
